


The Newcomer

by kiyala



Series: The Peoples' Dragon [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Book/Movie Fusion, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Temeraire Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 21:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1111774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire arrives on the back of a supply cart one afternoon, all of thirteen years old, carrying nothing more than a small bag of his belongings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Newcomer

Grantaire arrives on the back of a supply cart one afternoon, all of thirteen years old, carrying nothing more than a small bag of his belongings. His face and clothes are streaked with mud and walks straight through the courtyard, and to the first captain he sees.

"Are you in charge here?"

Enjolras, aged eleven and a half, doesn't even pause as he clambers all over Liberté with Combeferre and Courfeyrac, undoing his harness. He does glance at the boy, however, frowning as Lamarque kneels down to look him in the eye. It's a kindness he doesn't deserve for addressing the captain so directly, but Lamarque has always been more patient and more forgiving than the others.

"I am not. Where are your parents? Are you lost?"

Enjolras catches the look that the boy gives Lamarque then, unimpressed and scornful. It makes Enjolras' blood boil. He may not be twelve yet, but he has been here for more than three years already and in that time, he has come to respect and admire Lamarque like the father that he never knew.

"I am here to enlist." The boy drops his bag at his feet and folds his arms across his chest. "I have no home."

Enjolras has seen orphans from the street before, and they are all far skinnier than this boy, wasting away from hunger, a hollow look to their eyes. The boy standing before Lamarque may be lanky, but there is a certain quality to his hair, to his skin, that speaks of a life beneath the roof of a house. Enjolras does, however, spot the bruises on the boy's skin, hidden beneath the mud, peeking out from beneath his sleeves, under his wild, curling hair.

Lamarque must notice them too, because he doesn't push any further. "What is your name?"

"Grantaire."

"Well, Grantaire, I will speak to the Admiral at once and see what he has to say. Until then, you can stay here. Enjolras! Combeferre! Courfeyrac! Please come here at once, I have a favour to ask."

The three boys, already listening in on the conversation, exchange looks and descend as one. They stand in a line, giving Lamarque brief salutes.

"This is Grantaire. He will be helping you while I speak to the Admiral. Please find him a harness belt, and show him what to do. Treat him kindly, boys."

"Yes, sir," Courfeyrac is the first to speak. He takes Grantaire's arm, leading him towards where Liberté is patiently lying down and waiting for them to be done. "Hello, I am Courfeyrac, and this is Combeferre and Enjolras. Have you ever seen a dragon before?"

Grantaire shakes his head mutely, taking in the sheer size of Liberté as he lies across the paved stones. He looks more fascinated than terrified, which Enjolras supposes is a good thing. Combeferre goes to find the spare harness belt, and Courfeyrac leads the way around to Liberté's head, Grantaire only a step behind you.

"Liberté, we have a new cadet!" Courfeyrac announces, gesturing to Grantaire.

Blinking his eyes open, Liberté turns them to Grantaire, and then lifts his head. Grantaire instinctively takes two steps backwards.

"Oh, you need not be afraid of me, I am quite friendly if I may say so myself," Liberté says kindly. "What is your name?"

"G-Grantaire, sir."

"How polite! Though that is not necessary at all, it is a pleasure to have you in my crew, Grantaire, welcome."

"But he's not." Enjolras blinks, as surprised as the others at his sudden need to interject. "He is not a cadet, and he is not part of the crew. Not yet. Perhaps not at all, it is the Admiral's decision to make and for now, we do not even know if Grantaire will be staying, let alone joining the crew."

Grantaire looks hurt, and Enjolras immediately feels guilty. He turns away, refusing to apologise, and shrinks back at the disappointed look he is given by Combeferre, who is carrying a harness belt in his hands.

"This way, Grantaire. I'll show you how to put your belt on, and then we'll show you how to remove Liberté's harness," Combeferre says. "Luckily for you, it is only his training harness. The one he wears on missions is much heavier, and there's his belly-rigging as well. It takes _forever_ to remove."

"You clip your carabiners like this," Courfeyrac tells Grantaire, demonstrating for him. "There are rings as you go. To make sure that you don't fall off. Best to get used to doing it while you're on ground, so you can do it while you're in the sky."

" _If_ I make it into the sky," Grantaire mutters. He quickly picks up the technique, and climbs after Courfeyrac and Combeferre, catching up to them. "If the Admiral decides I'm worth keeping."

"Oh, don't worry about that, he will," Combeferre reassures Grantaire with a smile. "Don't you worry about Enjolras, okay? It just takes him a while to warm up to new people."

"Or people in general," Courfeyrac adds quietly, smirking.

Enjolras frowns, but continues to work on undoing the harness where he is. It's inefficient for all three of them to be working in the same place, especially when Liberté is such a large dragon. They're only going to be here for longer, but he knows that the words would be unwelcome right now. Combeferre and Courfeyrac would not want to leave Grantaire on his own, nor would they want to stress him out by hurrying him along. Enjolras privately thinks that if Grantaire cannot match the pace of the others, then he doesn't belong on the back of a dragon. Enjolras keeps that to himself as well, and simply picks up his own pace, hoping that he can make up for it on his own.

They haven't made very much progress by the time Lamarque returns, but he doesn't seem particularly bothered by that. He calls all four of them down, and judging by his smile, Enjolras can already tell that he has good news for Grantaire.

"The Admiral has decided that you can stay," Lamarque tells Grantaire, clapping him on the shoulder. "We will organise your uniforms shortly, and you will be staying with the other cadets, doing your lessons with them when you are not with Liberté, and soon enough, we will have you in the air with the rest of the crew."

Courfeyrac cheers, throwing an arm around Grantaire's shoulder. "See? What did I tell you? Welcome to the crew!"

"Welcome to the crew," Combeferre says with a warm smile, patting Grantaire on the back.

Combeferre and Courfeyrac both turn expectantly to Enjolras, and Grantaire turns with them. There's a hesitant look in Grantaire's eyes and even though Enjolras has only known him for fifteen minutes at most, he can already tell that it's a look he is accustomed to wearing. The hunched shoulders, the wary eyes, the sense of expectation that something will go badly. It's there in Grantaire's posture, just as it is written onto his skin in marks and bruises. Enjolras forces himself to look at them, to feel something for Grantaire that is not quite pity, but to try and understand what he has been through, and how that has shaped him.

"I am glad that you are not being sent home," he finally says, and holds a hand out for Grantaire to shake. "Welcome to the crew."

Grantaire's face splits into a smile, and his hand is warm when he takes Enjolras' into his own. It's soft and without callouses, but that will change soon enough. His hands will harden, along with the rest of him, and he will find his place in the crew, in the covert, or he will leave. Enjolras has watched it happen before, and only time will tell if it happens again.

Until then, Enjolras decides, he can be pleasant enough.


End file.
